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Truck carrying nativity parked in front of Ellwood City municipal building

Published On: Dec 06 2012 06:11:47 PM EST

ELLWOOD CITY, Pa. -

A truck loaded with a nativity scene was parked in front of a municipal building in Ellwood City on Thursday after the town had been threatened with a lawsuit over its creche display in front of the building.

Officials in Ellwood City did away with their display -- a 50-year tradition -- after the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation threatened to sue. A local attorney paid for a new creche and set it up outside a former church he owns.

But local Moose members parked their truck-borne nativity in front of the borough building on Thursday afternoon.

Since the truck carrying the nativity was parked along Lawrence Avenue, it’s not technically on municipal building property.

Ellwood City resident Herman Stafford helped save the parking spaces for five hours.

“It was just bunch of people talking, putting their heads together, coming up with a way, because people made promises last year that it would be here this year, but council batted it down. People got together and this is what we came up with,” Stafford told Channel 4 Action News.

The truck will have to be moved by 8 a.m. Friday, but supporters expect to bring it back several times leading up to Christmas.

Copyright 2012 byWTAE.comThe Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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